Ties
by Miss-Llama-Rabbit
Summary: …because failing a mission was one thing. Getting stuck in an entirely different dimension was another. So what do you do? Blame that stupid Hyuuga.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own anything, actually. Why do you think I have to keep borrowing money from my mom? Because I have no money, thus I don't own anything.**

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><p>Getting their unconscious selves stuck in the middle of some dark, eerie forest in some unidentifiable place, with absolutely no ability to use their chakra, had been a major mistake that would go down in ninja history as one of the biggest fails to have ever occurred on a mission.<p>

"Ugh…Where…where are we?" groaned Ino, struggling to push herself up on her elbows. She glanced around, taking the time to survey her surroundings. Somehow, in the period that she'd been unconscious, she'd wound up in the middle of some creepy forest…which didn't make sense seeing as, last thing she could remember, she and her temporary teammates had just been defeated by some crazy S-class missing nin. Most importantly, though, they'd been in the middle of a _**desert**_! NOT a _**forest**_!

"In a forest, Ino," came Neji's dry reply from somewhere behind her. Ino's face contorted with rage.

"I _**know **_that, Neji!" she snarled, rolling over to glare at the prodigy. She was met with a glare of matching intensity. Of course, as both were incredibly stubborn shinobi, they had to turn the whole thing into a glaring competition. Ino could've sworn she was going to win…

…that is until Kiba just _had_ to distract her with his moaning as he woke up.

Ino blinked.

"Dammit!" she roared, whipping her head around quickly to glare at the cause of her loss. "What the hell, Kiba? And stop smirking, you bastard!" That was aimed at the Hyuga whose mouth was threatening to twitch into an arrogant little smirk.

"What smirk?" he asked innocently. Before Ino could form an undoubtedly offensive reply, Kiba cut in.

"Oi! All of you shut up!" Heads turned to stare blankly at the dog lover who was looking around frantically in search of something, threatening to have a mental breakdown. "Where's Akamura?"

"…really Kiba, you're worried about your dog?" Ino deadpanned. Kiba shot her a 'don't-fuck-with-me' look.

"More importantly," Neji cut in before they could start arguing again, tone returning to his usual impassive seriousness, "Where are _**we**_?"

Neither of his squad members had an answer.

After a few minutes, Ino started up again. "Last I remember…like, we were fighting those nin, right? In the Sand…and then…like…I don't remember…" she trailed off, before her eyes widened with dread. "Shit! Oh god-Neji! Your arm!"

Neji glanced to his arm, which _should _have been so badly torn up that it looked like it had been caught under and crushed by a heavy object. However, it looked absolutely fine.

"I know. Its fine." he responded, holding it up, stretching it, flexing his fingers in demonstration.

"That doesn't make sense." muttered Kiba, staring stupidly at the arm. "This whole damn thing doesn't make sense! How the hell did we get here?"

"More like how did we get here perfectly fine..." Ino murmured, studying herself. They should've been covered in cuts and bruises, streaked with wet sand and blood. But instead, they were unscathed and totally clean, like the fight had never happened.

It was quiet again, each of the three mulling it all over. Neji, the team's leader, finally broke the silence.

"First off, let's get out of this damn forest."

What seemed like an eternity later, the three staggered out of the forest, weary (being tired from the fight earlier certainly didn't help) and nicely scratched up from the snagging thorns in the thick foliage. By then it was nightfall, and they were all also _**very**_ grateful that they'd gotten out of the forest. There was something exceedingly…well…unnaturally peculiar about that forest that even scared the fearless Hyuga.

"Thank Kami that's over…" panted Kiba with a drained grin.

"Amen to that." grunted Ino, doubling over and breathing heavily. Neji rolled his eyes. Sure, he was tired too, but Gai had never been a merciful teacher when it came to training. "Y'know I blame you, Neji. Bastard…you suck at leading missions." Neji just glared.

After a short break, they'd all managed to catch their breath, and returned to their instinctive "ninja-mode" and were surveying their surroundings. It was pitch-black outside, but the sky was clear, and the stars shone radiantly, the moon a luminescent orb hanging against the ebony backdrop that was the sky. However, it seemed like they were in the middle of nowhere-other than the sky and the forest, there was nothing.

"Well fuck." Kiba ground out. Ino made a noise of agreement from behind him. Although it wasn't like he'd been expecting anything…

Neji sighed, rubbing his temples. 'Well fuck' was right. Either stop and rest here, by the unnerving and most likely deadly forest, where something would probably pop out of and kill them while they had no way to defend themselves, OR keep on going and die of exhaustion.

"Alright let's keep go-"

"Wait!" cut in Kiba, flinging out a hand to slap over Neji's mouth, staring out into the distance.

"What?" asked a confused Ino with a frown.

"Is that…smoke?" questioned Neji, squinting into the distance. Indeed it was. Over a little hill in the distance, a thin trail of silvery smoke snaked up through the sky. How had he missed that?

"Smoke…A house?" murmured Ino; she was surprised that anyone would actually want to live in the middle of nowhere next to the creepy-ass forest. "Seriously?"

"Perhaps," replied Neji, "but we should be careful. We don't know what kind of people they may be-for all we know, they could be Akatsu-"

"Let's go!" Kiba shouted in a Naruto-esque fashion, leaping up and throwing a fist in the air before racing off in the direction of the forest, throwing caution to the wind.

"DAMMIT KIBA!" screamed Ino as she flew off after the runaway dog lover. Neji dropped his head into the open palm of his hand. _Idiots, _he thought. They were just as bad as Team Gai-okay, not quite as bad, but almost. With a sigh, he went after them. _So help us Kami if there are any dangerous criminals in the area…_

By the time the Hyuga had caught up with the two more exuberant members of his squad, they were stopped at the top of the hill, staring in shock at something in the distance.

"What are you staring at?" grumbled the Hyuga, a little more than slightly peeved that the others had disobeyed their damn leader and made _him_ chase after _them_. Sighing when no one answered him, he turned his head to look. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor at the sight before him.

For before them, behind the little hut that was spewing the smoke they'd seen, in all its glory, was a grand, majestic castle, glowing bright against the night what with all the light shining from within.

"How the _hell_ did we miss that?"

"Maybe the same way we missed everything else, bastard Hyuga." snapped Ino. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the castle, unblinking and stunned. "So…should we go to the hut…or the castle?"

"Castle." Neji answered automatically. "They'd probably have better answers to our predicament."

Kiba nodded slowly. "Yeah…d'ya guys hear that?"

Blank stares. "…what?"

"Y'know, that…the footsteps!"

"What do you mea-" before Neji could continue, he was cut off by a deafening roar of 'What're you lot doin' 'ere?' from directly behind them. Seriously, they were missing so much today…

As though they were in a horror movie, everyone slowly turned around.

"Well, holy shit."

"I blame you Neji."

For standing behind them was the biggest man they'd ever encountered.

As it turned out, after a little explanation via Neji, the (half) giant named Hagrid was an incredibly nice guy.

_Much nicer than half the men in Konoha_, Ino thought. _Although his cooking sucks_. That much was certain as she stared in barely contained horror at the food he'd given them when he'd let them come into his hut to explain what was going on. The cake things looked like rocks. Ino was scared to touch them; she really did like her teeth the way they were…

Beside her, Kiba was having similar thoughts. The only one being serious was Neji (although he was also wary of the rock cakes)-but then again wasn't that always the case?

"So what yer saying, is that you're from some place called "Ko-ho-na"," Hagrid said, carefully sounding out 'Kohona', "An' that you all somehow managed to wind up 'ere after a fight, right?"

Neji nodded. "We're not quite sure how, though. I suspect that it was a form of the enemy's jutsu-perhaps something like the 'space-time ninjutsu'-however, that seems unlikely seeing as none of them utilized techniques similar to any such thing as the ability to teleport us to a different…dimension, I suppose."

Hagrid stared, confused. He had _no _idea what this 'jutsu' stuff was. "Right…well, why don't I take you to Professor Dumbledore? I think he 'ought be able to answer yer questions."

"Professor Dumbledore?" asked Ino. "Who's he?"

"Only the greatest wizard in the world!" beamed Hagrid. Clearly he deeply admired this 'Dumbledore' man. "Smart man he is, and the headmaster of our great school!"

"School?"

"O' course. That castle up there is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." he responded, halfway out the door. "Now hurry up, don't want to keep anyone up to late…"

"Well fuck," muttered Kiba. "What the hell did we get ourselves into?"

"I dunno," replied Ino, the two of them following behind Neji and Hagrid. "But whatever; just blame Neji. It's what I've been doing."

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><p><strong>Sorry if the characters are OOC or something. And I know that this is a horribly overdone plot. I KNOW IT IS. And yet somehow, it managed to suck me in, too. Right so R&amp;R, right? Yeah I dunno…<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. But then again, if I owned it, Harry Potter would be the worst series ever. **sigh** Well, I don't really wish I owned Naruto, but whatever. I don't own Naruto either. There we go. Happy?**

**And in answer to one person's question-no, they can't use their jutsu (so I guess they aren't ninja but WHATEVER, I'm still calling them ninja and stuff-this jutsu/ninja/chakra crap always confuses me…I fail at life :D.) and this is set during Shippuden I guess, because Neji's 16 and the other two are 15. Not totally positive, I kinda skimmed the Shippuden part of the manga and forgot to read like two (…or three…or four…) arcs or something…I'm a terrible person.**

Hagrid led them across the school's expansive grounds to the towering castle itself. The half giant was merrily chattering away about something-or-other, gleeful expression on his face. Neither Neji or Ino were paying attention-Ino kept throwing wary glances back at that creepy forest (which Hagrid said was called the Forbidden Forest and warned them that they should never go in), while Neji was busy studying their surroundings, taking in everything as best he could. Kiba, on the other hand, was listening to Hagrid's words as though they were from God himself, deeply immersed in conversation with Hagrid because it was about magical creatures-and God knows Kiba loved animals.

Hagrid strode up to the tall, intimidating doors of the castle, banging on them with one thick fist. Moments later, light spilled across the dark grounds as they were yanked open by a rather irritated, greasy-haired man with a large, hooked nose.

"What is it Hagrid?" he asked monotonously, tone void of any emotion whatsoever. Kiba noted that he seemed to be even more emotionless than Shino.

"I need t' speak t' Dumbledore. It's urgent." The man seemed to sneer at this, peering behind Hagrid to gaze coldly at the three Kohona nin standing awkwardly behind.

"…I suppose it's about them." he stated. Before Hagrid could reply, he took a step back, opening the door wider for the half-giant. "Well? Hurry up."

They stepped over the threshold, following Hagrid as he beckoned them down the hall. The greasy-haired man quickly shut the doors and left, disappearing down a dark corridor, gone by the time Neji looked back.

As they walked, the three shinobi couldn't help but be awestruck at the sights that befell them: portraits that moved and spoke as though they were living humans; staircases that had changed position; a ceiling that was an exact replica of the sky. It was all so astonishing, breathtaking…magical. Hogwarts, in their minds, held up to its name as a school of magic.

"Hagrid," Neji called, "How much farther until we reach 'Professor Dumbledore'?"

"Not too far." He replied. "Just beyond this corridor-"

"Now what have we here?" came a voice behind the group. The shinobi spun around, ready to attack, only to find a site that made them all freeze, totally stunned.

"Is-is that…" stuttered Ino, eyes wide as saucers.

"A ghost?" Neji finished, equally surprised. If only he could use his Byakuugan…Kiba was gaping at the floating apparition like a fish out of water.

Hagrid barked out an uproarious guffaw at their reactions, while the ghost looked absolutely appalled.

"How rude, staring like that," he snapped coldly. "Think they'd never seen a ghost!" With that, he disappeared. Well, not quite. First he flew through Neji, leaving the poor teen gasping and shivering as though he had been dunked in icy water. Then, he vanished through a wall.

"Ah, sorry about that." Hagrid said gruffly, smiling lightly. "That there was a ghost, as you guessed. More specifically, the Bloody Baron, Ghost of Slytherin." He glanced over at Neji, who was still shivering. "Don't worry, that feeling will wear off soon." He was met with two blank stares from Ino and Kiba, who didn't understand why the Branch was acting like he was cold.

"When a ghost goes through some'un," Hagrid explained, "they feel…well, I guess you could say cold. Isn't that right, Neji?" The smile on Hagrid's face seemed to widen a fraction as he said the last sentence. The Hyuga just nodded.

Ino smirked, leaning over to hiss something into Neji's ear. "Karma for getting us stuck here!" she practically sang. Neji glared.

"Now where were we? Oh yeah!" Hagrid started forward again. "Come along, we're almost there!"

True to his words, after rounding a corridor they came to a stop before a large and rather hideous stone gargoyle. The three, once more, stared in confusion. One made to say something, but Hagrid cut them off with his booming voice.

"Wait…" Glancing around secretively, Hagrid leaned in and whispered something to the gargoyle. The three watched on and would've thought he was insane, had they not toured through the rest of the physics-breaking castle. It wouldn't surprise them if the gargoyle suddenly came alive. They were close.

As soon as Hagrid said whatever he said to the stone, it sprang to life, pulling back to reveal that it had been guarding a hidden staircase leading up to what Neji supposed to be the Professor's office.

Sure enough, at the top of the stairs was a door leading to-as revealed by Hagrid-the Headmaster's office.

Hagrid rapped on the door, immediately answered with an "Enter!".

Hagrid pushed open the door, exposing the wide, circular room within. There were many windows and portraits, and a very impressive collection of books filled the office from floor to ceiling. Set on a number of spindly tables spread throughout the room were delicate silver instruments, whirring and emitting puffs of smoke.

At a large desk in the room, beside a magnificent red bird, was a kindly old man, tall and thin with an incredibly long silver beard and crooked nose upon which a pair of half-moon spectacles rested. But most extraordinary were his eyes, a brilliant shade of blue that seemed to twinkle as they fell upon the three nin.

"Now what have we here?" he asked, motioning for the trio standing awkwardly behind Hagrid to enter further into the room.

"Ah, found 'em wanderin' around outside." Hagrid replied. "They said they'd jus' woken up in the Forbidden Forest an' had no idea where they were."

Dumbledore nodded. "Well," he said, "Thank you Hagrid. Now if you wouldn't mind, could you please step out and find Minerva while I speak to these three?"

"Of course!" Hagrid thundered before turning to leave. Dumbledore smiled warmly at the three, eyes still twinkling.

"Now why don't you tell me your names?"

Neji stepped forward first. "Hyuga Neji." he announced with a bow.

"Yamanaka Ino, pleased to meat you."

"Inuzuka Kiba." Kiba and Ino, like Neji before them, also bowed in respect.

Dumbledore beamed at them. "And I am Professor Dumbledore-also pleased to meet you," he said with a little wink in Ino's direction. She shot a grin back. "Well then, now that that's out of the way, I understand that you don't know why you are here, but perhaps you could elaborate on your story?"

"Of course," Neji replied before launching into their story of what had occurred before they'd wound up in the headmaster's office-Dumbledore occasionally breaking in with a question about jutsu or shinobi, or other such terms he'd never heard of before.

"I see…" he murmured once Neji had reached his conclusion, blue eyes clouded in thought. "While I'm sorry to say that I can't tell you the reasons for why you are here, I'm also sorry to say that we will also be unable to send you back to whatever dimension you are from because, as of yet, there is no such spell or such that covers the ability to travel throughout different dimensions."

Distressed looks painted themselves on the three shinobi's faces. Kiba opened his mouth to say something, but was quieted by Dumbledore's silencing hand. The headmaster continued. "However, I will report your case to the Ministry and work my best to find a solution to your predicament. Until then, though, I have an offer that you may want to consider."

"Yes, Professor?" asked Neji. He looked calm but was secretly just worried as his companions.

"Until we are able to find a way to solve your problem, I was thinking that perhaps in the meantime, you three would like to stay at the castle and possibly train yourselves in the art of magic." he explained, glancing each ninja over. "I found that the three of you seem to possess strong…I suppose, a strong magical ability. Perhaps it is the same in all 'ninja', perhaps it is tied into your 'chakra', I'm not sure, but I think it best if you take up my offer so as to be able to control your magic."

Neji paused, looking to the other two. "I'd gladly take up your offer, so long as my team also wishes to."

"Totally," Ino immediately said, passion fueling her words, "It sounds like the smartest thing to do, so, like, why wouldn't we?"

"'Sides," continued Kiba, "It's not like we have anything else to do."

"So it's settled." responded Dumbledore, stroking his beard as he stood and strode around to stand in front of his desk. "You three will attend Hogwarts as…'transfer students' this coming fall while we figure out your case." he paused. "Actually, that may not be possible. To enroll, you'd need to fit in our age limits. How old are you three?"

"I'm sixteen. Ino and Kiba are fifteen."

Dumbledore nodded again. "Good, that means you do all fall under years here. We'll try to teach you what your classmates have learned as much as possible…although not as in depth. I do know some spells that should be able to cram some of this into your head without actually teaching you…" he was talking to himself now, pacing in front of his desk. Suddenly he stopped, clapping his hands together. "But that's beside the point! Now that I think about it, there's another little favor I'd like to ask of you."

"Shoot." answered Kiba, earning a questioning raise of an eyebrow from the elder man.

"He means go on." explained Ino, smacking Kiba across the head. Dumbledore smiled cheerfully.

"Ah, of course." His face became suddenly serious. "What I have to ask of you, however, is a rather serious matter. From what I can tell, your world has 'dark forces' as does ours. There's one force in particular, though, that was supposedly extinguished, only to reappear again. His name is 'Lord Voldemort'."

With that, Dumbledore began explaining Lord Voldemort, his rise to power, his disappearance, and what had occurred this year at the Triwizard Tournament. "As you can see, he's a rather sinister man that spells trouble for all of us."

"He sounds like it," agreed Neji, "But what does that have to do with us?"

"The Ministry of Magic, sadly, does not believe that he's reappeared. As such, they aren't taking precaution against a possible attack Voldemort may chose to initiate. I'm worried that he and his followers may chose to attack Hogwarts. Also, as I explained, Harry Potter is a student of ours that Voldemort is targeting. I was wondering that if during your stay here you three could keep an eye on him; make sure that nothing too suspicious is occurring around him-or anyone else-that could possibly be the work of Voldemort." Dumbledore's eyes flickered over to Ino and Kiba. "Especially you two, seeing as you both are in the same year as him and such."

The three immediately agreed to watch out for any possible signs of Voldemort. "It's the least we could do for you, seeing as you're doing so much for us," was Neji's response.

"Thank you." A knock sounded on the door. "And it seems that the Professor I called for just arrived. Enter!"

The door was pushed open to reveal a tall, black haired woman in emerald robes, eyes staring down at them through her square spectacles. Her expression was strict, making the trio reminisce their Academy days with Iruka-sensei. Kiba trembled at the thought; this was most certainly a woman he did _not _want to get on the bad side of.

"Minerva, may I introduce you to our new transfer students, Mr. Hyuga, Miss Yamanaka, and Mr. Inuzuka." he announced with a flourish of his hand, winking at the witch when he said 'transfer students'. The Professor seemed to shoot Dumbledore an 'oh-god-what-did-you-do-this-time' kind of look. "And students, may I introduce you to Professor Minerva McGonagall, our lovely Professor of Transfiguration, Head of Gryffindor, and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts." His blue eyes were twinkling once again.

Neji and co. bowed to the Professor, uttering different forms of "Pleased to meet you." The Professor responded by nodding curtly and responding with an "As am I."

"With introductions out of the way, could you three step out of the room for a second so I could speak with Professor McGonagall?" asked Dumbledore. Of course, they exited the room, standing just as awkwardly outside as they had in the office when they'd first stepped in.

Ino slid down a wall into a sitting position, glowering pointedly at Neji. "'Bet they're talking about us and how badly we messed up because of you Neji." Neji rolled his eyes (or at least they assumed he did-it was hard to tell what with the iris-less white eyes) and rubbed his temples, clearly annoyed. "Think we should listen in on their conversation?" she asked.

Kiba shuddered, crouched on the floor and practically rocking himself in fear. "I wouldn't do that," he whispered, "That woman looked like Iruka…she scares me."

Face-palms all around at Kiba's words. "Kiba…you were never scared of Iruka," Ino started out slowly, "You liked to piss Iruka off whenever you could. You weren't scared of him. Why're you scared of this lady?"

Kiba rolled his eyes as though it was obvious. "She has magic. We have no chakra. I'm pretty sure you can kill someone with magic-'fact they prolly have a killing-curse-thing. We can't defend ourselves or run away 'cause we're in some magical land in a different dimension."

Ino stopped and stared, horror-stricken. "You're right…"

Neji wondered why he'd had to get stuck with such a stupid team. At least on Team Gai there was another voice of reason besides himself…although now that he thought about it, it'd probably be worse if he were with Gai and Lee, seeing as they were so frickin' energetically dramatic…

The group lapsed into silence, each wallowing in their own thoughts until Professor McGonagall finally poked her head out of the door and called them back in. When they re-entered the room, there was something off. For in the center of the room, perched upon a stool, was a tattered old hat, worn and frayed with age.

Ino blinked and stared at it. "…what's with the hat?"

"That's what we were getting too." stated the deputy, crossing over to stand beside the ragged hat. "To be a student at this school, you have to belong to one of our four Houses."

"Houses?" echoed Neji.

"Yes. There are four of Houses-Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House values different traits in a person. Hufflepuff, for instance, values hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play. Gryffindor is a house for the brave, loyal, bold, and chivalrous. Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. And lastly, members of Slytherin display ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness." she explained. Gesturing towards the hat, she continued.

"This hat is the 'Sorting Hat'. By judging your qualities and whatnot, it determines which House you belong to once I place it upon your head. Seeing as you three are entering our school so late, Albus and I are just going to sort you into your House now and announce it at the beginning of the school year after new students are sorted. Get it over with now, as they say."

"A hat," Kiba snorted, "with a brain? That's crazy!" Although he wasn't so sure, seeing as the portraits could talk and move…

Almost immediately, the hat burst into a fit of rage. "I'll have you know," it huffed, "that I'm no ordinary hat! I'm the smartest hat you'll ever meet, I'll tell you that!"

Kiba shrieked like a little girl, jumping in surprise. "Y-yes, Mr. Hat sir!" he squealed. Ino sniggered.

"So Mr. Hat, you're going to sort us into different these 'houses', right?" she asked, turning to stare at the Sorting Hat.

"Indeed I am."

"Cool." she replied, grinning from ear-to-ear. "When do we start?"

"Now if you'd like," beamed Dumbledore. "Miss Yamanaka, would you like to go first?"

"I dunno…I think Kiba would though."

"W-what? No! Nononononononoononononono. Don't leave me alone with the scary hat!" he whimpered, cowering behind Ino. "Please?"

"Oh just go, you big baby." the hat shot back as Minerva picked it off the seat, it's seam-mouth seemingly twisted into an evil little smirk.

Kiba approached the hat shakily, nervously sitting on the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. It was a little too big, however, and slid down past his eyes.

_So, _the hat spoke in his mind, _you displayed quite a bit of boldness back there. Gryffindor guts, eh? Although being scared of me certainly doesn't help…_

_Ummm…_Kiba replied, _I'm not scared of you…just a little freaked. Where I'm from, hats don't act all freaky and start talking to people…_

_Uh-huh, sure dog boy. Now let's see…hmmm, despite your little act back there, you seem to be pretty dang brave, and rather loyal. We could say "loyal as a dog", eh? _The hat chuckled a little at its corny joke. _Anyways, there's only one place for a bold, gutsy dog, and that place is…_

"GRYFFINDOR!" bellowed the hat. Professor McGonagall lifted the hat off of Kiba's head. Kiba smiled up at the older witch.

"Sooo…I guess that means I'm in your House, huh?"

Minerva pursed her lips and nearly kicked him out of his seat-albeit in a polite, school appropriate way, but that's beside the point.

Ino went up next, sliding into her chair with a small smile on her face. The hat was set upon her blonde head-although it didn't slide down because of her high ponytail.

_Hmmmm, let's see here. Competitive aren't you? Really aren't going to let pinky win that guy with the duck hair…Sasuke, right?_

Ino blushed. _Wha-how'd you know about that?_

_I can read your mind. Shush. Ok…ambitious too...and you're hiding your cunning mind. You've got plenty of potential to be a rather cunning little lady. Well I think it's obvious, now isn't it? You're obviously a little…_

"SLYTHERIN!" rang out through the room. Ino's eyes, which she had shut throughout the sorting, popped open.

"Huh," she said. "Well, I just learned things about myself I never knew before."

"Indeed, the Sorting Hat does that to you." responded a certain twinkly-eyed headmaster.

Last but not least, Neji approached the hat, looking as cool and emotionless as ever. The hat, like with Kiba, slipped past his eyes, but unlike Kiba and Ino, he kept them open.

_Open eyes, eh? That's pretty unusual, but from what I can see here, you really like your eyes, don't you?_

_Yes, _Neji replied, _they're vital in both battle and in my clan._

_I can tell. Seems you're from a real 'pure' family. And it seems you're very ambitious to be the best in your family, too. Ambition, purity…competitive? Yep, got that down. Cunning? Mmmmmmmmm…well, seems like you're a regular old Malfoy! Then this is obvious, you'd be in…_

"SLYTHERIN!" bellowed the hat. Neji agreed. It had sounded like the proper place for him.

However, he kind of wanted to pull the hat back on and beg for a different house after he saw the looks his teammates were giving him.

Ino was smiling like crazy now, as was Kiba.

"So Neji…you and me are in the same House…" She laughed. _Well this should be fun…I can see it now, '101 ways to annoy a stuck-up Hyuga'…_

"Whaddya know!" Kiba snickered, "You're with Ino! You too will make a lovely couple." Ino smacked him across the head, all traces of her grin gone, replaced by a scowl while Neji glared. _Dammit, _he thought, _and to think I could've gotten rid of them…_

Ino turned to Neji, in a half-teasing voice saying, "Y'know I still blame you for this, bastard." Neji, sighed, Maybe it was because he was exhausted, maybe it was because he just didn't care, maybe it was because he just wanted her to shut up, but for whatever reason, the Hyuga didn't even bother to try and get her to stop or glare at her, finally giving in. 

"Yeah. I know."

…**Although Kiba and the hat was really OOC, I really could imagine Kiba pissing off the Sorting Hat and then freaking out when it got mad back...and then having a fear of it…:D **

**Actually the whole ending was OOC and badly thrown together. See, this is what happens when I write stuff high off caffeine and at three in the morning.**

**And I apologize in advance. I'll be gone for a week starting Saturday, so I won't update at all next week, and I probably won't be done with chapter three this week or by the week after I come back because I'm a lazy bastard and I just moved, so I'm going to have to unpack and all...and I still need to write chapter three for Misunderstood…and I'll be quiet now.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: ALL RIGHT WE KNOW THE DRILL. I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto. If I did, I'd be a very famous and rich lady that can write and draw much better than me. Sadly, I don't own them, so I'm unknown, not rich, and my writing/drawing sucks. Yay me.**

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><p>After the Sorting took place in the Headmaster's office, the three were whisked off to get something to eat and find a place to sleep. They were glad for it too, seeing as they hadn't eaten nor really rested at all in the past 24 hours. They were fed in the Great Hall, the House Elves all too eager to whip up a feast at such short notice (and they did, creating a mini-banquet that was fit for a king, one of the best meals the three had ever had), and allowed to stay the night in the Hospital Wing, so as to heal the minor injuries they'd contracted in the Forbidden Forest.<p>

Thus the first day went.

The following days in their summer were all very similar. Although they were expected to enroll into the years they belonged in (Neji into sixth year, Ino and Kiba into fifth), none of them knew anything about magic. Trying to cram multiple years of knowledge into a person's mind all in one summer was (unsurprisingly) very strenuous, even with learning spells to aid the process. Plus, there were tests to be taken once they finished learning a year's worth of knowledge, supplies to buy, and the enrolling process, as it turned, was almost nonexistent and rather confusing to figure out. And if that wasn't enough, they needed to learn and understand the situation of Lord Voldemort so as to better be able to protect Hogwarts. Dumbledore even introduced them to the Order one day (Neji remembered the day. The location was Number 12 Grimmauld Place, sometime before Harry arrived and blisteringly hot outside. While they didn't stay for long-just long enough for the meeting and a little before and after for proper introductions-he could remember two identical redheads that had bothered him the whole time after the meeting while they waited for Professor Dumbledore to finish speaking with people so they could return to the school. Something about being a stuck up Slytherin priss so they just _had_ to annoy him. Neji knew it would be a terrible first impression if he did so but he sure as hell wanted to murder them in the most painful way possible after those torturous five minutes. They'd taken a liking to him, though, and continued to ritually send him terribly irritating letters throughout the rest of the summer. Neji swore that this coming school year a devastating accident would occur and no one would be able to find the bodies.).

So all in all it was a very hectic summer, one filled with long nights and early mornings, stressful days that had the three of them near tearing their hair out.

…and then there was the homesickness.

Despite the fact that Dumbledore had spoken to the Ministry about their predicament, it seemed that they would be unable, or more _unwilling_, to help. They were busy, with both regular affairs and the work of squashing rumors of Voldemort's rise. And besides that, it seemed that something like this had never happened and no one had ever thought of the possibility of other dimensions, making it hard to even start thinking up a theory to possibly send them home.

"The likelihood of you three ever getting home is close to zero. It would take years at best for us to figure out a way to send you all back. Decades would be closer to the amount of time it would take us, seeing as there are other things we need to worry about what with all the shit going on right now. Trust me; your problem isn't high on our list of priorities at the moment. You'd better hope that your friends back home are looking for a way to get you all back because at the rate things are going, I recommend you three create lives for yourselves here because you probably aren't going home. Ever."

Those were the harsh words of one Ministry employee, and the three were denying that they could possibly be true.

They all longed for Kohona, longed for the old days when they trained with their teams and things were just _normal_.

They all wondered if their teams were being their old selves without them, how they were fairing. Were the stricken with grief? Probably, but not so much so that it affected their ability to perform mission-wise. But nevertheless, they knew that their teams missed them and-however much Neji and Kiba, denied it (being as "macho" as they were)-they missed their teams an awful lot, too.

But as the days went by, they tried harder to push their longings deeper down. What was the point? It would be better to just forget, seeing as they were probably never going home…

It was time for them to cut off their ties to the old world and start anew here.

Thus their summer went, leaving their behind their old lives in favor of newer, more 'magical' selves. As they say, out with the old, in with the new.

On the other hand, in Kohona they weren't so willing to forget.

MWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMWM

The first anyone realized that Neji, Ino, and Kiba were in trouble was two weeks after the mission was assigned (or eight days after they actually disappeared), when a lone Akamura came barreling in through the front gates.

That set off the warning bells.

What made them figure out that something was terribly, horribly wrong was when Hana approached the giant white dog and tried communicating with it. All that she could pick up was that the trio was gone and that the dog was freaking out because he couldn't find them.

Well…crap.

xxx

Tsunade was seated at her desk, as per usual surrounded by mountains of overdue paperwork. Her head was in her hands. She was tired, hung over, and stressed. Dear Kami did she need a drink…But sadly, Shizune had once again hidden all of her booze, including the stuff in her secret-secret-secret stash.

Picking her head up, she stared-no, scowled-at the stacks. The bane of her existence, the most hated thing she'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. With a sigh, she reached over and snatched up a bottle of sake, downing half of it in one go. At least she'd had the brains to grab this bottle before she clocked in for work today.

She really didn't like paperwork.

Sighing, she felt for a pen, finally located one, and began taking down piles. Or at least she would've, had some random chunin not burst in, shouting gibberish about a giant dog and some shinobi gone missing. Tsunade rubbed her temples. Well damn did this sound bad. She _really_ hated filling out missing person reports…

"Alright, alright…Shut up!" she barked. The nin's jaw snapped shut, and he stared at her almost fearfully. "Ok, now start over. Slowly this time."

"Y-yes ma'am!" he stuttered. "Well…um, see, this one Inuzuka dog showed up all random. Which is strange, right, 'cause those Inuzuka dogs are, like, never separated from their owner or whatever. Well, this one Inuzuka goes up to him and does whatever an Inuzuka does, and he tells her that, like, his master-I think Iba, or somethin'-and the team he was with were gone! Disappeared into thin air! And the dog couldn't find them!" At this, the nin developed an absolutely freaked out expression and Tsunade resisted the urge to smack her head against a wall over and over again. Kids these days just weren't what they used to be. They made terrible messengers.

_So the Hyuga and his team are missing?, _was what Tsunade thought as she dismissed the chunin. _Interesting…I wasn't expecting __**his**__ team, of all teams, to go missing. Personally, I don't believe it…but I guess I should send a team out to go look for 'em. _

Grumbling incomprehensively, she rooted around in her desk for a list of ninja currently not off on missions. She actually really wasn't in the mood to toss together an investigation squad-not that that she ever was in the mood to toss together an investigation squad. It meant more work, and really she just wanted to rest.

Lucky for her, however, seconds after she started scanning the list her office doors were flung open with a bang, and she was nearly blinded by green spandex and flashing teeth.

"YOSH!" boomed the exuberant, bushy-browed leader of Team Gai. "TSUNADE-SAMA! I AM HERE WITH A VERY YOUTHFUL REQUEST I HOPE THAT YOU WILL AGREE TO!"

Tsunade groaned, reaching for her ever trusty paper weight she threw at Gai when he got to over the top. "What?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"WELL TSUNADE. SURELY YOU'VE HEARD OF HOW MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT HAS DISAPPEARED! Quite tragic, I must say. He has so much potential, so early in his Springtime of Youth!" The drama king was in tears, equally energetic student behind him sobbed as well, a clenched fist raised to eye level as tears streamed from inconceivably round eyes. The other nin who'd come with him stood awkwardly in the background, staring at Gai like he was a total freak. Tenten, exasperated by her sensei's "youthful" antics, shot Tsunade an 'I'm so sorry' look.

Tsunade ran a hand through her hair, leaning back. She could see where this was heading. "Yes, I've heard. And your point…?"

"I was wondering if my youthful students and I, along with all of my fellow youthful sensei's of the disappeared, along with the remaining youth of their teams, go search for them on a very youthful mission! PLEASE TSUNADE-SAMA! IF NOT FOR ME, THEN FOR MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT AND HIS YOUTHFUL TEAM!" he pleaded, tears running down his face, striking a pose only the Green Beast of Kohona could pull. It was good to see that even in the face of adversity Gai was as theatric and 'youthful' as ever.

However, despite the tears and the pose, the expression on his face read 'I won't take no for an answer'. Tsunade knew he wouldn't. When it came to his students, Gai would do anything to ensure their safety at whatever cost it may come. And he _never _took no for an answer. Tsunade felt her eye twitch. Well, she _did _need a team to go look for them…

She frowned slightly, examining each person who Gai dragged along over.

…but really, all of them? She probably couldn't _afford_ to send all of them to look for three people.

"What about them?" she asked, flicking her index finger in the general direction of the others.

Asuma took a step forward. "Look, I see what you're getting at, but I'm going too." Kurenai followed suit, agreeing immediately after Asuma. Tsunade sighed again, but knew her efforts to hold them back would be fruitless. Gai and the remnants of his team, she knew, would never take no for an answer. It was just their way. And even though Asuma was left with his less active members of his team, and Kurenai with her quieter students, they'd both do anything to get their students back, just like Gai.

"Fine." she finally responded. "I'll let you all go look for them." The delighted faces that looked back at her made her feel a little glad about her choice inside. But there would be rules. A domineering finger raised to quiet the group. "_**However,**_ you all have a week at most to look for them, alright? One week. Now leave," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. She'd probably regret sending them all later, but whatever. She had paperwork to do.

Peering at the stacks though, she had a sudden change of heart, instead reaching for her almost-empty bottle of sake. Maybe later. Shizune would kill her, but so what. Never mind the paperwork. She had sake to drink.

MWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMWM

It was a day before the students arrived and the trio was holed up in the Gryffindor common room, away from the professors, the ghosts, the portraits, generally just trying to keep out of sight so as to spend their last night as ninja alone, away from anyone (or thing) magic-related.

Ino drew her legs up onto the couch, hugging them tightly to her chest. "So this is it…" she whispered gravely. Neji murmured in agreement, Kiba shifting in his seat before bobbing his head. She cracked a grin. "Although it'd be hard to say I'm not excited."

Kiba smiled back as Neji nodded. "At least we'll be able to put everything we have learned to use," he stated. "And besides, it is all very interesting from what I've learned so far. I'd like to further my knowledge."

Still grinning, Ino leaned over and flicked his forehead playfully. "Stop being so formal."

"We're friends now, ain't we?" chimed in Kiba with a taunting smirk, exchanging a little wink with Ino. How they loved to disturb the haughty Hyuga.

Neji glanced her over, dignified Hyuga eyebrow raised. "…I suppose." was his doubtful reply after a moment's hesitance. Ino pouted, Kiba grinned like a maniac.

And yet, the joking air diminished quickly, returning to as it was earlier: solemn and strained.

"Speaking of friends," Kiba started carefully, as though he was getting ready to walk across a minefield, "I wonder how everyone else's doing."

The atmosphere was so tense you could've cut it with a knife. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. There it was, out in the open. The subject everyone had avoided since the first night. Kohona.

Neji stared up at the ceiling, unblinking, before he finally broke the silence. "However they are is no concern of ours." he said impassively, cool gaze turned on the two across from them. "What we should concern ourselves with is our studies and assisting Dumbledore. _Not _the others." With that he stood up. "I think I will return to my quarters now. Good night." Robes swishing around him, he stalked out of the common room, the Fat Lady's portrait slamming shut with a resonating _BANG. _

However, they'd seen past the nonchalant mask before he'd left.

"…well he's not taking it well." muttered Kiba. Ino shrugged.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, asshole. None of us are. Why'd you bring it up?"

"I dunno bitch. Thought it'd be nice if we talked about it one more time." Sighing, Ino shrugged again in response.

"Well we all saw the outcome of _that_." Kiba grinned sheepishly at her words. Ino smiled softly, then stood up, stretching like a cat as she went. "I'm gonna go. Loooong day tomorrow and all that shit."

Kiba faked terror at the mention of the next day, uttering a squeaky, "Don't remind me." Ino fondly ruffled his hair before whacking him upside the head.

"Ha-ha. Now go get some sleep dog boy. Bye!" Ino tossed a flirty little wave over her shoulder before exiting the common room.

Kiba was alone once more, perched on the couch, staring at the remains of the fire, cooling embers slowly turning from a bright crimson to ashen black.

Eventually he got up, brushing imaginary dirt from his robes to ignore his own anxiety. Exhaling, he ran a hand through his messy black mane. He was, no matter how much he hid it, nervous about tomorrow. Just a little. They all were. He didn't really know why, he didn't particularly care, either. But whatever.

Grinning, he started up the stairs. Yeah, whatever. He was a goddamn ninja for crying out loud! He could do anything. He'd be _fine_.

xxx

Down in Slytherin house, the other two members of the little trio were having similar thoughts.

Ino trekked through the common room, damned butterflies stirring around inside of her as she made her way to her room. She didn't know why they were there, and she didn't really want to know why. For all she knew, they could be trying to tell her that someone was going to die.

…That would suck.

No, that wasn't it. She knew it was about tomorrow. All of them-even the emotionless Hyuga bastard that got them stuck here-were freaking out about it. Not like they knew why, but they just generally were.

As far as she was concerned, it was probably about the whole 'if tomorrow starts, I'll never see my family/friends again' shebang. She wasn't really sure, though. But whatever. They'd all made a pact earlier that summer, after the Ministry man spoke to them. Starting tomorrow, they'd cut off all ties to them, start a new life. She knew she would, she knew she could_. _It'd all be fine.

Continuing her trek to the dungeons, she felt a little smile pull at her lips. It'd all be fine…it'd all be fine. She could do this.

xxx

A brush ran through long, dark brown locks. _One stroke…two strokes…three…_ It was soothing, the feeling of the brush running through his hair. Calming. It felt nice.

Once tranquil, he put down the brush, checking himself one last time in the mirror. White eyes stared back.

The white eyes were a constant reminder of what had been and could've been had he not gotten stuck here. He could've surpassed the rest of the Hyuga's with his eyes, could've been one of the strongest shinobi to have ever graced the ninja-world with them.

He could've done a lot of things but he couldn't now, and there was no use dwelling on it. He was a smart boy; he knew there was no use.

…but he still liked to dream, still liked to think about what could've been.

He wouldn't though. He wouldn't after tomorrow. Tomorrow meant a fresh start, the end of one chapter, the beginning of a new. He was nervous, yes, he missed his old life, yes, but he kept the anxiety at bay, choosing instead to focus on other things. They all felt that way, and while Ino and Kiba didn't realize it was because they were nervous about leaving their old lives behind (because really, who wouldn't be a little nervous about starting over), Neji had already embraced it and let it go.

He'd cut off his ties, spread his wings and fly. Albeit nervous to do so, but whatever. Just as the others, he'd be fine too. It'd take time to get used to the change, but he was a shinobi. He'd adjust. Whatever.

He'd be fine.

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><p>…<strong>Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…so all I have to say is this is absolute shit and I sooo got Gai in character. Kidding. I COULDN'T COME UP WITH ANY GAI-LIKE WORDS WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS. YOUTH EVERY OTHER WORD IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. Actually I have something else to say. What in the name of Cheese Whiz is up with that ending 'cause I sure as hell don't know. It's so crappy! (Actually it was way worse and rambly before I went back and cut out over half of it, but I digress.)<strong>

**I need to stop insulting my writing.**

**FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-how many of you can tell I didn't want to write this chapter but forced myself off my lazy bum and did it so it's like super half-assed? C'mon, raise of hands. Don't be shy. HEY YOU. IN THE BACK. YEAH. YOU. RAISE YOUR HAND. C'MON, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. RAISE IT. THERE YA GO. GOOD BOY/GIRL/IT.**

…

…

…**I don't need help…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. If I did, neither of them would have gone on for so long because I would've gotten tired of doing so much work that I'd have killed all the characters in some stupid way, like the sun consuming the planet 'cause it got hungry or something.**

…**I'm not sure where that came from.**

**Right, so…sorry it took so long to update. I've been visiting relatives…and I was just really lazy :D. Nothing else to say, so I'll shut up now.**

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><p>Neji walked through castle, Ino half-walking half-jogging to stay in step with him.<p>

"Could ya walk any faster?" she grumbled under her breath. Neji still heard her, though, and rolled his eyes.

Turning a corridor they heard Kiba barreling down one of the halls on the floor above in search of them. He didn't notice them until Ino called his name while waving him over. The dog-lover grinned and rushed down the staircase to meet them.

"So…how's this gonna work again?" he asked once they'd continued their trek to the Great Hall.

"We're meeting the Headmaster in the Great Hall before the students arrive. He'll situate us in the 'Trophy Room' in the Great Hall, where we will remain until after the students eat. He'll then introduce us during 'announcements'." Neji replied calmly, catching Kiba's horrified expression once he was done. "…What?"

"Then when are we going to eat?" Kiba cried. Ino smacked Kiba across the head, muttering something about 'stupid boys' and 'bottomless pits'. Neji just sighed. Maybe if he closed his eyes they'd all disappear...

**xxx**

They'd left the door open a crack after they'd entered, just enough so they could view the going-on's of the Hall while still remaining unseen. Ino was currently crouched at the opening, one blue eye peeking out at the students as they filed in through the double doors, taking seats at their respective house tables. The enchanted ceiling revealed the starless night, floating candles illuminating the faces of cheerful students as they exchanged conversation with one another, eager to finally be able to reunite with their friends after the holidays.

Ino grinned as she watched; it was cute how they got all excited to see each other again. But her smile rapidly morphed into a frown. One student in particular, a certain Gryffindor with a distinctive lightning-bolt scar on his forehead, seemed to be catching everyone's attention. Students appeared to avoid him, putting their heads together to not-so-secretively whisper about him as he passed, no doubt spreading rumors like the plague about the boy's 'little problem' with You-Know-Who.

Without turning, Ino motioned for the boys to come look. They immediately did, following Ino's finger to the Boy Who Lived.

"That's him, right?" Kiba asked in a whisper. None of them wanted to get caught. Being discovered would be equal to failing the Headmaster. They'd grown quite fond of Dumbledore so they didn't want to disappoint him.

Neji nodded, eyes trailing the boy as he and his friends sat halfway down the table next to the ghost that could almost take off his head-Nearly Headless Nick or something of the like. The trio seemed to be studying the staff table with great interest, frowning and muttering to each other.

The ex-shinobi stepped away from the door, settling down on the floor beside it. They were ready to start their mission.

**xxx**

The Golden Trio was extremely disappointed/worried that Hagrid was still missing, but all thoughts of him vanished when they spied the woman sitting beside Dumbledore. She was squat with short, curly hair. The pink headband decorating it matched her absolutely horrid fluffy pink cardigan perfectly.

"Who's _that_?" asked Hermione sharply, gesturing to the strange woman. Harry frowned. She looked familiar, but realization struck him when the woman turned her face. The pallid, toadlike face and pouchy eyes were unforgettable features to anyone who laid eyes on them.

"It's that Umbridge woman!" Harry cried, eyes widening.

"Who?" Hermione probed.

"She was at my hearing-she works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan," Ron commented with a smirk.

"She works for Fudge?" The corner of Hermione's lips twitched down in a frown. "What on earth's she doing here then?"

A good question. Why would a Ministry worker be at Hogwarts?

"Dunno…" Harry responded. Hermione seemed to strike a realization after scanning the rest of the staff table, a troubled look enveloping her expression, but Harry was too busy with other problems. Professor Grubbly-Plank had just sat down in what should've been _Hagrid's _seat.

But that also meant the first years should enter any minute. Sure enough, the doors to the Great Hall were flung open moments later, silencing the Hall as a line of terrified first years headed by Professor McGonagall and the Sorting Hat, patched and ancient as always, entered. Just like every year, McGonagall placed the stool in front of the staff table, the pale and trembling first years linining up to face the other students.

The Shinobi Trio were looking out at the Hall once again, struggling to get a good view of the fearful first years around each other and the limited view they had.

Ino found it adorable, although rather nerve-wracking on the poor first years part. In a way, she was glad she didn't have to have been sorted before all those students like that, tiny smile gracing her lips as she watched.

The school was quiet, waiting for something with bated breath. Kiba frowned, mouthing a 'what're they waiting for?' to Ino and Neji. Ino shrugged. Neji didn't respond at all. This must've been what he'd read about…the 'Sorting Song' or something along those lines.

Seconds later the rip near the hat's brim opened wide, bursting into song. It mesmerized the three-they'd never heard or seen the Sorting Hat sing before.

The song started off about Hogwarts, but took a rather curious turn. Neji tilted his head. How strange. Tt was singing…no, _warning _the Houses about the dangers of separating, asking the Houses to unite for great danger was coming. This seemed to worry the students too, the applause scattered with whispers and muttered remarks. Obviously something was up. Exchanging glances with his fellow teammates, he understood that they had caught it too. The hat was warning them. And from the way the school reacted, that must've been something strange.

The tables quieted as Professor McGonagall swept them with a scorching look, lowering her eyes to the long parchment in her hands. She began to call out the names of first-years once all noise ceased.

It was funny, watching the new students stumble to the stool, the hat falling past their faces, watching them stagger over to their newly given tables, sinking down with relief. The trio clapped with each house the Sorting Hat called, no matter if it was their own or not-it just felt right to. Although each time their own House was called, they clapped a tad bit louder.

At last, the final first year was sorted and the Headmaster rose to his feet.

Ino looked over at Neji, the most learned of them. "What's he doing?" she asked. "I thought you said announcements-"

"Weren't until after dinner. They _are_ after dinner-I assume this is a greeting to the students."

The other two nodded in agreement-that made sense.

Sure enough, it was. Dumbledore stretched out his arms, beaming at his beloved students as he spoke in a ringing voice. "To our newcomers, welcome! To our old hands- welcome back! There is a time for speech making but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Applause and laughter broke out, the Headmaster settling back down and tossing his incredibly long beard back over his shoulder to keep it out of the way as he ate. This confused the trio as there was no food. But, unsurprisingly, a feast appeared from nowhere on the tables, dish after dish and flagon after flagon materializing. An excited little whoop from Kiba signaled that they too had food, which was confirmed when Ino and Neji turned around, met with their own little feast.

Tuck in they did.

**xxx**

Eventually the plates were cleared, the students' content from the delicious feast and the noise level beginning to steadily rise, only to be quickly brought back down once Dumbledore stood.

"Now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to students-and a few of our older students ought to know by now too. The caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door."

"And in other news, we've had three changes to our school this year, two of which involve our staffing. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of unenthusiastic, but polite, applause-which Neji did not bother to join in on. That Umbridge woman was rather…unpleasant. There was a change in the Golden Trio's attitude, though, at the mention of a change in Care of Magical Creatures class. How interesting…He'd have to look into that.

Ino shot him a look. _Is it our turn yet?_ Neji nodded slightly, but held out a hand as if to say _'wait, almost'._

Dumbledore continued. "As for our third change-"

Dumbledore stopped mid-sentence, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. Neji lifted an eyebrow. It appeared that the woman stood up. This also seemed to surprise both students and teachers. Dumbledore, too, looked taken aback for a moment before sitting back down and looking alertly to the _"hem, hem"_-ing Umbridge. Clearly she intended to speak. The rest of the staff and the student's weren't quite as skillful at hiding their surprise. Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed into an even thinner line than the time Kiba had somehow managed to blow up the rat he'd been meant to Transfigure into a glass. Students were smirking and rolling eyes, expressions mocking the woman. She _obviously_ didn't understand the order of things at _this_ school.

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome." Umbridge simpered, voice as high-pitched, breathy, and girlish as ever. Neji bristled, Ino wrinkled her nose, and Kiba's lips drew back in a snarl at the sound. The three of them shared a mutual dislike of her. "Well, it is lovely to be at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me."

Neji rolled his eyes. Happy faces indeed. One glance behind confirmed that Kiba was making various disgusted faces, pretending to retch all over the floor, while Ino looked rather taken aback by her words. One look at the students confirmed that they were reacting no better.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

"Oh hell no," muttered Ino, "not in that cardigan." Neji shushed her but silently agreed.

Another irritating 'hem, hem' and her irritating voice quickly morphed to a dull, business-like drone.

"The Ministry of Magic ahs always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

At that, Umbridge paused and made a little bow to the other staff members. No one returned it. Umbridge continued, a little 'hem-hem' that made the hiding trio want to rip her throat out signaling the next part of her absolutely infuriating speech. Twitching, Neji turned away from the woman, preferring to study the students than listen to the crap she spewed.

Similar to the Hyuga, Harry found his attention slipping away from Umbridge's 'enlightening' speech. The rest of the hall was no better off, the silent respect that Dumbledore earned during his speeches lost to this woman. Students were putting their heads together to giggle and chat with friends. While there were still some students watching her, their eyes were glassy as though their minds were in a different place.

Sighing, Harry swept his eyes over the Hall, then tensed, sensing a presence studying him. Slowly, he looked around for anything, nearly missing the source. A set of pure-white eyes were burning into him, half-hidden in the shadowed depths of the Trophy Room. Freezing, he stared straight into the pupil-less orbs. Never before had he seen eyes like those.

Perhaps he was just imagining them, though. Keeping an unwavering eye on the mysterious eyes, Harry turned just enough to jab Ron hard in the shoulder, effectively awakening the half-asleep redhead. "Ron, you've got to look at this," he whispered.

"What?" replied Ron, struggling to stifle a yawn.

"Look near the trophy room," Harry responded, gesturing towards the eyes. "I saw the strangest thing."

Ron inclined his head in the direction Harry was pointing, halfheartedly looking around before shaking his head and shrugging.

"Nothing's there mate. Can't blame you though-this woman is driving me maaaaaaaad." said Ron before dropping his head back down onto the table. Harry frowned, quickly looking back at the door. After a few moments of adjusting the angle of his head and squinting, he caught sight of the creepy eyes yet again.

He was about to nudge Ron again but froze. The figure staring back at him shifted so a pale face was partially revealed in the shadows. A slender finger lifted up and pressed itself to the person's lips. Harry blinked, and the person vanished. Looking around animatedly, Harry found that it seemed as though no one but him had seen it.

After a couple of minutes of staring at where the eyes had been, he sighed and gave up. No doubt he'd alarmed the girl (at least, he assumed it was a girl-the face was rather feminine) into leaving. Harry considered telling Hermione about what he'd seen, but she seemed to be listening to Umbridge's speech attentively, though judging by the disgust openly displayed on her face, the toad's words obviously weren't to her liking.

"…because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning whatever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

At long last she took her seat. Dumbledore clapped, the staff begrudgingly following his lead along with a few students. Dumbledore stood up before a proper applause could be started.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he bowed to her and continued. "Now, as I was saying. Our last change! Recently, Hogwarts has agreed to take part in an exchange program for students. We've recently accepted three new students from Japan. You can come out now!" he called, motioning to the Trophy Room Door. Harry froze. Could it be…?

The Hall's interest seemed to be piqued, if only a little; some students adjusted their seating, leaning over slightly to get a better view.

The door was pushed open and from it emerged three students. One was a stoic, rather feminine-looking male with incredibly long hair and eerie white eyes that sent the students talking amongst themselves. The second was a rather pretty girl, blonde hair up in a high ponytail with an impish smile lighting up her face. The third was a wild-haired male. Strange red markings decorated his face, mischievous grin displaying fang-like incisors.

They halted in front of the staff table, appearing entirely calm unlike the first years.

"First off I'd like to introduce Neji Hyuga, Dumbledore motioned to the first male, "secondly is Ino Yamanaka," The blonde flashed a sexy little smile, earning more than one wolf-whistle and cheer, "and lastly, Kiba Inuzuka." Once their introductions were done, the trio bowed respectfully to the crowd, voicing what everyone supposed was a form of greeting in Japanese.

Ron lifted an eyebrow. "Wait a minute…I know them!" he whispered, gesturing wildly. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's antics, brows furrowing.

"But what about their houses?" she wondered quietly, searching for the Sorting Hat. The Hat, though, was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that a few other students were also interested in the matter, looking around questioningly for the Sorting Hat.

Dumbledore seemed to pick up on their perplexity, waving a hand as though to bat off any questions. "Now as for Houses, they've already been determined. Mr. Hyuga and Miss Yamanaka have been sorted into Slytherin. As for Mr. Inuzuka, he has been sorted into Gryffindor." With that, he turned and nodded at them, saying to them something that was inaudible to the rest of the Hall. They each nodded back, then made their way down to their respectful tables. Harry watched them go, Neji taking an empty seat near the front among the older Slytherin students while Ino seemed to get pulled into a gaggle of cackling Slytherin girls.

Kiba ambled along Gryffindor table, glancing around languidly until Ron hissed, "Hey, Kiba! Over here!" (1). Kiba looked over, cracking a grin before walking over with more of a purpose, plopping down in the space Ron had made for him.

"Ron, right?" he asked. "And…Hermione? Thought I knew you. Then you must be…Harry? Yeah…Harry Potter, right?"

"Right," affirmed Harry. Kiba grinned, sticking out a hand. The two shook then Kiba turned to talk to Neville, who he hadn't met yet and was squeezed next to.

In the meantime, Dumbledore had continued with notices about Quidditch Tryouts.

"Ugh," grumbled Hermione, still irritated from Umbridge's speech. Harry and Ron stared to her, Kiba discreetly tuning into their conversation. He was supposed to watch them after all. "What did you two think about Umbridge's speech?"

"Dull as hell, and I grew up with _Percy. _You didn't enjoy it, did you?" Ron paused before adding the second sentence, appearing slightly horrified at the mere thought.

"I didn't," she retorted, "But it explained a lot…"

"Sounded like a load of waffle to me."

"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle." At the two's blank stares, she clarified. "Like 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged', or 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'."

"Which means…?" Ron asked impatiently.

"I'll tell you what it means," Hermione's voice was ominous. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

Before the two boys could have a 'eureka' moment, Dumbledore had dismissed the school, the Hall filling with loud clattering and banging as the students leapt to their feet.

A flustered Hermione dragged Ron off to do their appointed Prefect duties, leaving Harry behind. Kiba glanced at him. He'd previously been smiling at a knot of shy first years, but the smile had slid off his face once the first years realized who he was, appearing terrified as they passed by him.

Kiba grinned, slapping Harry on the back in an attempt to lighten the mood. Harry spun around in surprise. "Eh, I always get lost. Show me to the tower?"

"Um…sure," Harry agreed. "But first, let's get out of this crowd." He muttered as an afterthought, futilely trying to ignore the negative attention he caught as he passed.

Harry wove through the crowd, guiding Kiba up the stairs and through a couple of concealed short-cuts until they were pretty much out of eye. The Potter boy was obviously angry from the attention he'd contracted, but really, he should've been expecting this after what Dumbledore had told the public had happened last year.

They finally came to a halt before the Fat Lady's portrait. Harry turned to Kiba with a sheepish expression. Kiba lifted an eyebrow, carefully concealing a smirk as he threaded his hands behind his head.

"You know the password?" he asked, the Fat Lady chiming in with a lofty 'no password, mo entrance!'.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. No shit-I've been here all summer. _Mimbulus mimbletonia!"_

Sure enough, the portrait swung open like a door, revealing the secret entrance in the wall behind.

The two clambered through, entering into the Gryffindor common room. As always, the common room was welcoming, a cozy circular room full of squashy armchairs and rickety old tables, a merrily crackling fire completing the inviting scene perfectly.

"You know what dorm you're in?" Harry asked Kiba.

"Yeah, but I'm not going up yet." With that, the two boys said their goodnights and such before Kiba turned and strolled over to the redheaded trickster twins pinning something up on the notice board. Kiba poked his head over their shoulders, still unnoticed, corners of his mouth twitching into a grin as he read it-something about getting paid to test something no doubt risky and frowned upon by authority. Sounded like his kind of thing.

"Can I help?" he asked the twins, who turned around and grinned at him.

"Testing yourself or testing people?" one replied-Kiba couldn't tell which.

"If you're testing people then you're not getting paid." continued the other in joking tone.

"Testing on people. Preferably Neji." Kiba responded after a moment of pretending to be very seriously mulling it over.

They talked for awhile about things like that, Kiba glad to be around people who weren't serious and weren't Ino, until Kiba eventually wandered upstairs, leaving them to finish tacking up their sign after agreeing to help send a Howler to Neji.

When he reached his dorm, Ron was blocking the doorway. Frowning, he tried to look over his shoulder, finding the dorm plastered over with photos and posters and enveloped in a strained air.

"What's going on?" asked the redhead. Seemed he hadn't gotten there until recently either. Taking a step back, Kiba deciding to wait out this fight and see what was going on-after all, he was new and didn't know what the inner workings of Hogwarts were like.

"He's having a go at my mother!" someone shouted in an Irish-sounding accent. So that's what it was about. But who was having a go at who's mother?

"What?" asked Ron, incredulous. "Harry wouldn't do that-we met your mother, we liked her…"

"That's before she started believing every word the stinking _Daily Prophet _writes about me!" snapped Harry at the top of his voice. Kiba's frowned deepened. That explained it-after all, Harry didn't seem the type to go around insulting people's parents.

Ron seemed to understand, too. "Oh…right."

"You know what?" said the Irish boy heatedly. "He's right. I don't want to share a dormitory with him anymore; he's a madman."

Kiba moved forward, ready to stop this fight before it could get any worse. Personally, he was all for a good fight, but he was pretty sure Ino would give him an earful and Neji would poison him if they failed their mission. Ron stopped him just before he could move.

"That's out of order, Seamus."

"Out of order, am I? You believe all the rubbish he's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you? You reckon he's telling the truth?"

"Yeah, I do!" Ron snarled.

"Then you're mad, too." Disgust laced his voice.

"Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, I'm also a prefect! So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!"

Kiba decided it was the perfect moment to make his entrance. The argument was at a point where it could either die out or escalate to a full-scale duel.

"Hey, Ron!" Kiba greeted from behind the youngest Weasley brother, forcing a grin onto his face so as to seem as though he hadn't accidentally overheard the conversation earlier. The red-head spun around quickly in surprise, ears glowing crimson.

"Oh…hey, Kiba," he said awkwardly. "What's up?"

Kiba smirked, pointing at the sixth four-poster that had been squeezed into the room. "Didn't notice there was an extra bed yet?"

Ron paused after seeing that there was an extra bed before forcing an equally fake, chipper tone to his voice. "You're rooming with us?" At Kiba's nod of confirmation, he stepped back to let the newest addition to their dorm in. Three sets of eyes looked up at Kiba's entrance, blinking in confusion. The fourth set didn't even bother to look, to busy fuming silently at them all.

"Is that the new kid?" asked a tall, dark teenager. "So that's who the sixth bed is for." Standing, he approached Kiba with a hand outstretched. "Dean Thomas."

"Kiba Inuzuka." replied Kiba. Dean nodded and smiled warmly at him. He seemed nice enough. "So…Dean…Neville…Ron…and Harry, right?" he said slowly, pointing at each person in turn as he repeated their names. Finally, he reached the last member of the dorm. "...But I don't know you. Kiba Inuzuka-nice to meet you."

"I know," grumbled the sandy-haired teen. "_Dumbledore_ told the whole school, remember?" Kiba wordlessly noted how half of them bristled at the mention of Dumbledore. "Seamus Finnegan." The Irish boy didn't move to shake hands.

Dean, who was still standing beside Kiba, leaned over slightly, whispering a confidential "Sorry we're a shitty welcoming party. Seamus and Harry kinda managed to piss everyone off."

Kiba shrugged. "It's ok. Be glad I'm not Ino, though. She'd be bitching like no tomorrow if she was around. But I dunno-maybe it's just 'cause she's constantly PMSing."

Dean snickered before returning to his bed. Kiba followed suit and flopped down on his own, digging through his trunk for pajamas. He quickly slipped them on. Seamus was still livid and Ron was still standing in the center of the room, red as his hair.

"Anyone else's parents got problems with Harry?" he finally asked, tone every bit as angry as Seamus appeared, glaring at the incensed Irish.

"My parents are Muggles, mate," Dean's replied, hands over his hands in an innocent fashion. "They don't know nothing about deaths at Hogwarts. I'm not so stupid I'd tell them."

"You don't know my mum, she'll weasel anything out of anyone!" Seamus snapped. "Anyway, your parents don't get the _Prophet, _they don't know our headmaster's losing his marbles and getting sacked right and left-"

"My gran says that's rubbish," piped up Neville. "She says it's the _Prophet _going downhill. She canceled our subscription and everything. Not Dumbledore. Gran's always said You-Know-Who would come back one day. We believe Dumbledore and Harry. She says if Dumbledore says he's back, he's back." he said simply.

"It's not like I'm even in the same country as my mom. And anyways, I'm like Neville's gran. I believe Dumbledore. I owe him a shitload." Kiba responded with a shrug when all eyes turned on him. Kiba smirked when he saw the appreciative expression on Harry's face aimed at Neville and himself, silence befalling the dorm once more. Seamus had vanished behind his bed hangings with a huff. Dean quietly promised to introduce Kiba to a wonderfully destructive-sounding game called 'Exploding Snap' tomorrow before rolling over and falling silent. Neville too was quiet, covers up to his chin and staring at a stunted little cactus.

With a sigh, Kiba yanked his covers up and splayed out on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. He pitied Harry-no doubt he'd earn more remarks like Seamus's in the months to come-and wondered how Neji and Ino were doing.

The candle was extinguished moments later. Kiba felt his eyes slowly fall shut. But no matter-it was time to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, that was a load of shit. That ending was shit, this chapter was shit. Shit, shit, shit. And it took so long to write and some of the conversations are just taken from the book! OKAY, OKAY, I realize that's copyright but I've never really done crossover so I was just like fuck it, this is being written like this, 'cause I figure somethings would stay the same in the Wizarding World even if these three showed up.<strong>

…**fine, fine. BUT ONCE AGAIN, I FEEL THE URGE TO DISCLAIM THAT I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER AND I NEVER WILL. THIS IS JUST A WORK OF FANFICTION. THE MAGNIFCENT HARRY POTTER SERIES IS THE WORK OF JK ROWLING. PLEASE DON'T SUE MY ASS.**

**And please, flame and criticize away. Bash this chapter as much as you want, yell at me as much as you want, instruct me in an offensive manner on how to write a proper crossover as much as you want. It would help. This chapter is absolute bull and needs as much flaming as it can take. It just flat out utterly **_**sucks.**_

**Oh, and as for the next chapter…either continue with the storyline or a short one on Neji and Ino when they go off to meet their own dorm-mate-people? **

…**that is all. **

**(1)****In case you don't remember, Ron and Hermione have already met Kiba, Neji, and Ino at that Order meeting but Harry hasn't 'cause it was before he went to #12 Grimmauld Place. **


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